Welcome to the APME Memphis 2025 conference. Here, you’ll be able to register for the conference and update your Sched profile. The conference schedule will be available in late spring 2025. At that time, you can view the schedule and select the presentations you’d like to attend. If you have any questions, please visit our conference website or contact us at conference@popularmusiceducation.org We look forward to coming together as a community June 4–7, 2025.
This presentation examines how generative AI songwriting tools, such as Suno, impacted students’ self-perception of creativity in a large-enrollment undergraduate course, Popular Music Survey: The Eras of Taylor Swift. The study employed a mixed-methods approach to measure changes in students’ self-perception of musicality and creativity. At the start of the semester, students completed a survey assessing their creative confidence and self-perception of musical skills. Throughout the course, they learned to use Suno to compose original, diaristic song lyrics, with AI tools providing instrumental, vocal, and production support. Students submitted a final AI-assisted songwriting project, and post-surveys evaluated shifts in their self-perception in creativity and music-making skills. This study offers practical strategies for integrating generative AI into popular music education, highlighting its potential to empower students to experiment, create, and see themselves as songwriters. Preliminary findings suggest that integrating AI tools positively impacts students' self perception of musicality, particularly for students with no prior musical training.
